Shun

For many years, Lahoris had no option but to go to Fujiyama if they wanted Japanese food. Not that there's anything wrong with Fujiyama, but it's always nice to have an option. Look at Karachi, they have Fujiyama AND Sakura*. Thankfully, now we have Shun.

First Impressions

Shun is located above the Berlitz Language Centre on Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri Road off Hussain Chowk. The first thing I noticed as I was walking up to the restaurant is their sign proclaiming that they serve Thai, Japanese and Chinese food. If a restaurant says they serve more than two types of cuisine, that's almost never a good sign. Shun, thankfully, managed to be an exception to that rule.

Shun sets itself apart from the slew of Asian restaurants with it's decor which is very simple yet pleasing to the eye. It's almost cathartic. My guess is that they wanted to go for an "earthy" look with the brown and green colour scheme. Whatever it is, it works.

The Food

Shun's specialty is definitely its Japanese food as much as they'd like to be a Japanese, Chinese and Thai restaurant and that's all they should focus on. According to their menu, it seems that they mostly focus on their sushi, which is a good thing because their sushi is amazing.

We ordered the Thai Chicken Satay, Tempura Prawns, Crispy Tuna Maki, Assorted Sashimi and the Gyoza and most of these were excellent. The Maki was very well made and the Sashimi was very extremely fresh and tender (Read: Melts in your mouth). The Tempura was very light and just a little crispy which gave it a fresh taste. The Satay, however, was nothing interesting. It was just chicken with a little bit of sauce. Not much to be said about it.

The highlight of the meal, for me, was the Gyoza. The dumplings were just perfect. The filling tasted good, the wrapper was boiled and potstickered and the presentation was excellent. Also, at Rs 230 for five pieces, it's very well priced.

Overall, I was very satisfied with the food and although a lot of people disagree with me on this, I find their sushi to be better than Fujiyama's. Much better.

Conclusion

I've come to really love Shun. It has good food with a relaxing ambiance without the air of it being a fancy restaurant. I guess the word I'm looking for is cozy. I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes Japanese food / Sushi.

Food : 7 / 10

Ambiance : 8/10

Service : 7 / 10

Pricing : 600 - 1,000 per head (depending on how much sushi you order)

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*Update : People are telling me there's another Japanese place in Karachi : Kamameshi. Typical. Expect Karachi to one up on Lahore.